First few weeks in Sydney
Sorry for the long delay in getting this update out, but I’ve been trying to get myself situated and whatnot. I also wanted to wait until I finished my first week of school before sending out anything - because I know a lot of you would be wondering about that too.
Well, I survived the long flight. I actually think the flight to LA was a lot harder than the 14 hour one from LA to Sydney. On the longer flight, they dimmed the lights and I was actually able to sleep most of the flight. There was also an entertainment center at each seat, so I had tons of options in terms of what I could watch. That made the flight go by really quickly. When we landed, we had to go through customs of course; I was the last one to get my luggage, so I was starting to get nervous that it hadn’t made it all the way here. But, luckily, it did. I was with a group of people in my program, and we all got picked up by people from BU and taken to our apartment building. We’re actually really lucky: there are 75 people in the BU program here in Sydney, but 17 are education majors, and they give the 17 of us much nicer housing than the others in the program. The rest of the kids stay at a place across the street called Unilodge - which is more of a dorm type setup. (Is that where you stayed, Ku?) In my apartment, there’s one bedroom that I share with my roommate, and then we have a living room/kitchen area, as well as a bathroom and a washer/dryer. Our kitchen is a full kitchen: fridge and freezer, microwave oven, and even a dishwasher! So we’re lucky that way.
The first day we were here, we got to shower and get settled a little bit, and then we got to use the phones in the BU Student Center, so we could call home and spread the word that we’d arrived safely. Then we took a walk up to the shopping center nearby so we could pick up some food and learn a little bit of the layout of the land. Then, that night, there was a barbecue for all the students in our program, which was good to kind of get to know people. The next couple of days we took care of housekeeping things: getting our cell phones, buying our books, and doing orientation type things to learn about the city. Then, over the weekend, there were some trips run by the program so we could get the chance to experience some of the things that go on in the city. I went to Bondi beach the first day, one of the more famous beaches here in Sydney, and the second day I went to the Taronga Zoo, where I got to see some native Australian animals up close and personal: koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, dingos, wombats, and even a platypus! That was really cool. That first weekend I also went to see an Aussie rules football game with some of my friends. That was very interesting - it was a struggle to even learn what the rules were. I still don’t even really understand it! The players are really rough, like rugby but even worse. That was a fun experience though.
Then the next week I started my Australian Culture and Society class. I have that on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 5:30 - 8:30, and then we also have field trips on Wednesdays that are relevant to what we’re covering in the class. SO far we’ve just been talking about the founding of Australia and the early events, but it’s really interesting to me because I’ve never really learned about that before. That week I also went to my school, Arden Anglican School, where I met the teacher who will be supervising me during my student teaching and also got a tour of the school. I was also free during the days, so I tried to do some exploring of the city. I went to Olympic Park, where all the stadiums and such from the Sydney Olympics are. That was really cool - to see all the buildings I’d seen on tv up close.
The second weekend I was here, I went to a surf camp! I left on Friday night and came back on Sunday night. The camp was at a place about two hours away from Sydney, and we worked at a beach called Seven Mile Beach. We basically went for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday. It was a LOT of fun, and I even stood up on the board! I was very excited about that. I was so sore by the end of the weekend. It’s a lot more work that you think, and even just carrying the board became a struggle for me. I’m glad I tried it, and it was definitely worth it, but I don’t see a professional surfing career in my future :D
The week after that, I finally started my student teaching experience! On Monday September 8, I spent my first day in school, just basically observing my teacher and the class. My teacher, Derek, and I have really hit it off, I think. He’s really awesome and the students really respect him. I know there’s a lot I can learn from him. There are 20 students in the class - 13 boys and 7 girls. Tuesday, I observed as well, and helped out with some small groups. Then, Wednesday - Friday, I had the opportunity to go camping with the class! Outdoor education is a really big deal here in Australia, and so from third grade on, all students go on camping experiences. It just so happened that the third grade one was planned for the very week we were starting. The campsite was a reserve about half an hour away from the school, so about an hour away from my apartment. I went with one other girl that I know, which was good. There were eight adults, including the two of us, the two teachers, the headmaster, and a few parents. There were 37 children from the two classes. I definitely got to know the students really well - and I know which ones are going to give me trouble! It was a really awesome experience though. The kids did some team building activities on some low ropes courses that were available for us to use, and it was great to see how they worked together. They also went on a bushwalk (a hike), which was really cool for me. We even learned how to throw a boomerang and painted our own boomerangs, which I thought was pretty cool as well. We came home exhausted on Friday afternoon, but very happy that we had the experience to go.
This weekend has been pretty low key. I’ve just been recovering from the camping trip. Yesterday I went to the Australian Museum, which has a great exhibit on the Indigenous Australians, so I learned a great deal about Aboriginal culture and the strife they’ve experienced since Europeans first settled here in the 1770s. There was also a special exhibit on more modern Aboriginal art which I got to check out. I went there because I had missed this week’s field trip for my Australian Culture class while I was camping, and that was where they went. I ended up spending a few hours there and I had to leave because the museum was closing. Today has been a pretty lazy day - the weather hasn’t been so great, so I’ve been kind of indoors all day. That ended up being a good thing because I finally got to put this email together. I also went grocery shopping for the week. For the rest of the day, I’m going to work on a powerpoint presentation about myself that I have to present to my students tomorrow, and just take it easy in general. Definitely a great way to spend a Sunday!
So, sorry for the length, but it’s been a long time coming so I was just trying to fit in all my experiences so far!!
Well, I survived the long flight. I actually think the flight to LA was a lot harder than the 14 hour one from LA to Sydney. On the longer flight, they dimmed the lights and I was actually able to sleep most of the flight. There was also an entertainment center at each seat, so I had tons of options in terms of what I could watch. That made the flight go by really quickly. When we landed, we had to go through customs of course; I was the last one to get my luggage, so I was starting to get nervous that it hadn’t made it all the way here. But, luckily, it did. I was with a group of people in my program, and we all got picked up by people from BU and taken to our apartment building. We’re actually really lucky: there are 75 people in the BU program here in Sydney, but 17 are education majors, and they give the 17 of us much nicer housing than the others in the program. The rest of the kids stay at a place across the street called Unilodge - which is more of a dorm type setup. (Is that where you stayed, Ku?) In my apartment, there’s one bedroom that I share with my roommate, and then we have a living room/kitchen area, as well as a bathroom and a washer/dryer. Our kitchen is a full kitchen: fridge and freezer, microwave oven, and even a dishwasher! So we’re lucky that way.
The first day we were here, we got to shower and get settled a little bit, and then we got to use the phones in the BU Student Center, so we could call home and spread the word that we’d arrived safely. Then we took a walk up to the shopping center nearby so we could pick up some food and learn a little bit of the layout of the land. Then, that night, there was a barbecue for all the students in our program, which was good to kind of get to know people. The next couple of days we took care of housekeeping things: getting our cell phones, buying our books, and doing orientation type things to learn about the city. Then, over the weekend, there were some trips run by the program so we could get the chance to experience some of the things that go on in the city. I went to Bondi beach the first day, one of the more famous beaches here in Sydney, and the second day I went to the Taronga Zoo, where I got to see some native Australian animals up close and personal: koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, dingos, wombats, and even a platypus! That was really cool. That first weekend I also went to see an Aussie rules football game with some of my friends. That was very interesting - it was a struggle to even learn what the rules were. I still don’t even really understand it! The players are really rough, like rugby but even worse. That was a fun experience though.
Then the next week I started my Australian Culture and Society class. I have that on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 5:30 - 8:30, and then we also have field trips on Wednesdays that are relevant to what we’re covering in the class. SO far we’ve just been talking about the founding of Australia and the early events, but it’s really interesting to me because I’ve never really learned about that before. That week I also went to my school, Arden Anglican School, where I met the teacher who will be supervising me during my student teaching and also got a tour of the school. I was also free during the days, so I tried to do some exploring of the city. I went to Olympic Park, where all the stadiums and such from the Sydney Olympics are. That was really cool - to see all the buildings I’d seen on tv up close.
The second weekend I was here, I went to a surf camp! I left on Friday night and came back on Sunday night. The camp was at a place about two hours away from Sydney, and we worked at a beach called Seven Mile Beach. We basically went for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday. It was a LOT of fun, and I even stood up on the board! I was very excited about that. I was so sore by the end of the weekend. It’s a lot more work that you think, and even just carrying the board became a struggle for me. I’m glad I tried it, and it was definitely worth it, but I don’t see a professional surfing career in my future :D
The week after that, I finally started my student teaching experience! On Monday September 8, I spent my first day in school, just basically observing my teacher and the class. My teacher, Derek, and I have really hit it off, I think. He’s really awesome and the students really respect him. I know there’s a lot I can learn from him. There are 20 students in the class - 13 boys and 7 girls. Tuesday, I observed as well, and helped out with some small groups. Then, Wednesday - Friday, I had the opportunity to go camping with the class! Outdoor education is a really big deal here in Australia, and so from third grade on, all students go on camping experiences. It just so happened that the third grade one was planned for the very week we were starting. The campsite was a reserve about half an hour away from the school, so about an hour away from my apartment. I went with one other girl that I know, which was good. There were eight adults, including the two of us, the two teachers, the headmaster, and a few parents. There were 37 children from the two classes. I definitely got to know the students really well - and I know which ones are going to give me trouble! It was a really awesome experience though. The kids did some team building activities on some low ropes courses that were available for us to use, and it was great to see how they worked together. They also went on a bushwalk (a hike), which was really cool for me. We even learned how to throw a boomerang and painted our own boomerangs, which I thought was pretty cool as well. We came home exhausted on Friday afternoon, but very happy that we had the experience to go.
This weekend has been pretty low key. I’ve just been recovering from the camping trip. Yesterday I went to the Australian Museum, which has a great exhibit on the Indigenous Australians, so I learned a great deal about Aboriginal culture and the strife they’ve experienced since Europeans first settled here in the 1770s. There was also a special exhibit on more modern Aboriginal art which I got to check out. I went there because I had missed this week’s field trip for my Australian Culture class while I was camping, and that was where they went. I ended up spending a few hours there and I had to leave because the museum was closing. Today has been a pretty lazy day - the weather hasn’t been so great, so I’ve been kind of indoors all day. That ended up being a good thing because I finally got to put this email together. I also went grocery shopping for the week. For the rest of the day, I’m going to work on a powerpoint presentation about myself that I have to present to my students tomorrow, and just take it easy in general. Definitely a great way to spend a Sunday!
So, sorry for the length, but it’s been a long time coming so I was just trying to fit in all my experiences so far!!